Ryan Franklin was announced as the winner of The Sporting News Reliever of the Year award on Friday. The Fort Smith native is the first Arkansas-born player to the award, which has been around since 2001, or the TSN Fireman of the Year award, which was given out for 40 years between 1960 and 2000.

Franklin had an excellent season, but struggled towards the end of his 2009 campaign. He finished the year 4-3 with a 1.92 ERA and 38 saves, 3rd best in the National League. Franklin allowed 13 runs all season, but 7 of them came in September. In addition, he went 0-1 and surrendered 2 runs in 2 playoff games.

Franklin’s season could be considered the greatest season ever for a reliever from Arkansas. He broke the single season record for saves by an Arkansas, a mark that was previously held by Ellis Kinder, who saved 27 games in 1953.

The 2009 season is over for 7 of the 9 Arkansas-born players in the Major Leagues. But for Cliff Lee and A.J. Burnett, the season continues. Both will play in the upcoming World Series, beginning Wednesday.

Lee, a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, will start Game 1 of the World Series. The Benton, AR native is participating in his first postseason after going 14-13 during the regular season. In three playoff starts, Lee is 2-0 with a 0.74 ERA.

joining the New York Yankees in the WS will be North Little Rock product A.J. Burnett. He pitched 12.1 innings in the League Championship and allowed 8 runs. Before that, Burnett pitched 6 innings on 1 run in the Division Series. He will likely pitch either Game 2 or Game 3.

Fellow Arkansans Ryan Franklin and Torii Hunter also competed in the postseason, but did not make it to the October Classic.

It was a wild year for North Little Rock native A.J. Burnett. In his first year as a New York Yankee, Burnett threw 17 wild pitches and walked 97 players, the most of any pitcher in either category in all of the American League. In addition, he hit 10 batters, the third most.

Burnett, 32, finished the season with a 13-9 record with a 4.04 ERA. He has been a rather wild pitcher in the past, leading wild pitches in 2002 with 14. That mark stood as a single-season record for wild pitches among Arkansans until now.

Also, Burnett hit 10 batters in ‘09, the third most in the AL.

The 2009 regular season is now over, but the playoffs are about to begin. And included on the 8 teams headed to the post-season are 4 Arkansas-born players, Torii Hunter, A.J. Burnett. Ryan Franklin and Cliff Lee.

Three of the four have never played in the playoffs. Only Hunter, a Los Angeles Angels outfielder, has post-season experience. in 25 post-season games, he has hit .316 with 3 homeruns.

Lee is scheduled to start for the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in game 1 of the NLDS against the Colorado Rockies, while Burnett will start on Friday in game two of the ALCS for the New York Yankees. Franklin will be the closer for the St. Louis Cardinals.